When I wrote my first post on this blog, I gave a general critique of Singapore’s education system such as its obsession with grades and lack of focus on purpose. However, there is one problem that is particularly worrisome with its harmful implications for society. That is the problem of elitism in our education system.
This is one of my shadows that I am grappling with, and I believe it is the same for the rest of society who went through the same system. In the shadow theory by 20th-century renowned Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, a shadow refers to the part of us that we subconsciously repress or deny about ourselves.
I will admit that this is a very hard topic for me to write about because of my background. Throughout my educational journey, the word “top” has been there in some form or another. Top class, top student, top school, top university in Asia…
To be honest, I feel guilty to discuss elitism.
Nonetheless, I feel compelled to examine this issue. What is the point of having gone through many years in what is supposedly one of the best education systems in the world if I cannot even do so? I believe one of the true purposes of education is to become capable of contributing to something wider of oneself.
“The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” -James Baldwin
Defining Elitism
Before anything else, let us define what elitism means.
Elitism /eɪˈliːtɪzəm/:
- a way of organizing a system, society, etc. so that only a few people have power or influence
- the feeling of being better than other people that being part of an elite encourages
From personal experience and observations around me, I cannot deny that elitism has a strong presence in our country.
There are a few telltale signs of elitism in education. The first one as I recall from my childhood is hearing parents talk down on “neighbourhood schools”. Meanwhile, being from a “top school” is something that will get one many praises. Looking at most of the leaders elected to government, we find that a common denominator is their elite educational background.
On the other hand, the signs of elitism are not always obvious. Most people would not readily admit to believing that they are better than other people even if they do. But if one is dedicating an unreasonably large amount of time and effort towards getting ahead, it can hint at elitism on a subconscious level. And we all know this – the level of competition and striving among students in our education system is high.
Elitism is not an inherent flaw of the individual. Rather, it is something that is encouraged on a systematic level since we were young.
Moulding the Future of Our Nation
“It is not systematic education which somehow molds society, but, on the contrary, society which, according to its particular structure, shapes education in relation to the ends and interests of those who control the power in that society.” -Paulo Freire
The Ministry of Education’s mission is “Moulding the future of our nation”. It aims to develop students in a way that would prepare them for the needs of the era that they are moving into. Specifically, the kind of needs that are relevant to the global economy. For example, they are now focusing on 21st century skills like critical thinking and creativity in order to adapt to a VUCA world.
The fact is that almost all countries in the world today, not just Singapore, take GDP growth to be the key measure of national development. As a result, we can say that modern education systems are designed to serve an economic agenda in general.
It is worth nothing that in Singapore’s case, the ruling party in the government has been able to maintain in power because of its success in delivering economic promises. Therefore, there would be even greater interest to mould the future of the nation. For me, the word “mould” carries a bit of negative connotation. It conjures the image of a tool that is used to give a fixed shape to something.
One way that our education system is designed to achieve the ends stated above is academic streaming.
Academic Streaming
Academic streaming places students with different academic abilities into different educational pathways.
As far as I can remember, I was first placed into a class ranked based on my overall results at primary 3. I went through my first major examination, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), to determine which secondary school I would go to. Back then, students were streamed into either Express, Normal Academic or Normal Technical. I entered the express stream and went to a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) secondary school with an aggregate score that was considered fairly high. At secondary 3 again, I was placed into the top class (which got a lot of sneers from other classes). With a perfect L1R5 score for my O-Levels, I qualified for the top junior college in Singapore. Not long after, I sat through my A-Levels and enrolled into the National University of Singapore, ranked #8 in QS World University Rankings 2024.
Lots of numbers and rankings, I know. (To be honest, it feels exhausting to even describe it…)
To be fair, the government’s original intention for streaming was simply to raise literacy rates. A large percentage of students in the 1980s and 1990s were dropping out as they lost interest after failing to catch up with their peers. Streaming was meant to customise to different learning rates.
But at the same time, it is not hard to see how academic streaming helps to serve other interests of the economic machine.
Firstly, it sieves out the best and brightest (academically) students to take up key positions in society. This makes sense for a small country with few natural resources that needs to leverage on human resources instead. With dedicated streams like the Gifted Education Programme (for the top 1%) and the Integrated Programme (a 6 year program where one can skip O-Levels), students who are academically strong can be identified and groomed from an earlier age. Highly-coveted scholarships like the PSC scholarship give a select few the opportunity to study abroad in Ivy League universities and serve leadership roles in the public sector.
Secondly, it breeds a competitive mindset among citizens that would allow Singapore to be competitive enough on a world stage. If one was placed into a setting with others of equal or higher academic ability, there would be motivation to compete and become better. The chances of one falling into complacency would be lower. This is what has led to Singaporeans being known for their strong work ethic, efficiency and competitive spirit.
Although it is useful for promoting national development in terms of economic growth, there are harms to society that would undermine that development.
Harms of Elitism
The harms of elitism in our education system cannot be overlooked. The young spend a huge part of their growing up years in the system and are literally the future generation of the country. Elitism has tremendous consequences on the experience of life in our country and the direction that we go towards.
I will use a number of personal anecdotes to support my points. Those are not isolated examples that do not hold up in the wider sphere of society. It is also in the details of everyday life that tell why we should be concerned about these harms.
1) Living in the illusion of being “better”
Young people tend to form their sense of worth from external validation. As such, they may develop the belief that they are “better” or “worse” than others based on their academic results. This can give rise to a superiority complex if they happen to do better than others academically.
When I was first placed into the top class in primary school, I admittedly felt full of myself and thought I was better than most people. This feeling solidified as I progressed through the education pathway and received more affirmations about my standing on a national level. Back then, I did not know myself well and had not been told anything else good about myself by adults. (Sadly, typical of Asian culture) While deep down I knew that it was an illusion, I cannot deny that I got psychological rewards in the form of huge ego boosts.
Here is a story I heard from a friend who studied under the Integrated Programme in (prestigious name) junior college. Students in the IP skip O-Levels to take A-Levels directly for the purpose of having more time to engage in broader and deeper learning. However, those who do not do well enough will go to a class that takes the O-Levels (something that the rest of the nation does anyway) Apparently, the cohort made a derogatory joke targeted at that class.
Sometimes, it is the parents who reinforce the elitist mindset in their children. There was a time when my younger brother was trying to sell a textbook online on Carousell. The buyer, a mother, asked him about what kind of student used the textbook. Her reasoning was that if a poorly-performing student used the textbook, he/she might have made misleading notes. After my brother answered that he was a top PSLE student in his primary school (he did not condone her attitude but wanted to see how she would react), she happily bought the book. What if the student was not him? How would the student feel? And when no one asked, she had to add that “My son is studying in (prestigious name) school”.
All these examples illustrate how real superiority complex is. It is dangerous because it is an illusion that it is not objectively true. Academic intelligence is merely 1 measure of intelligence, among other measures such as social and emotional intelligence. Moreover, intelligence is merely 1 aspect of a human.
If some young people believe that they are better than others, they may feel entitled to treat others they perceive as beneath them poorly. Because of an underlying thought: You and I are not equal. This goes against the ideals of a fair and compassionate society.
2) Getting ahead as a way of being
There are many implicit and explicit messages in the education system that tell students to get ahead of others.
For example, the use of rankings itself encourages students to compete. In my experience, schools create their internal examinations to be way more difficult than it should be, probably to not cause complacency. (My JC examinations were designed to kill!)
These tell students that “Never good enough”. Indeed, when never is good enough, there will always be the striving to get ahead. Be it to get ahead of the curriculum or one’s peers. This explains the national obsession with assessment books and tuition. In 2023, Singaporean households spent a whopping $1.8 billion on private tuition.
I wish to highlight that competition is not a bad thing. Competition can push the limits of what is possible and benefit everyone. That is how Singapore could achieve its remarkable success story of “Third world to first”.
However, that is only if the participants know the collective goal of the competition – to push for a greater good. It is like in competitive sports. No one ever says competition in sports is bad, except when a lack of sportsmanship is shown. Why? Because that defeats the meaning of sports. It is with sportsmanship that competitive sport is exciting and inspiring as it challenges the limits known to us.
Here is the problem. Students do not know that. They have not agreed among one another that the purpose of competition is to challenge the limits of academic performance or push for national development. The reality is that most students are competing because they are pushed to by the system.
Look at how many adults constantly urge the young to study hard based on the reasoning that “It is good for your future”. Their reason is focused on survival and self-interest. We do not hear that the purpose of education is to become cultivated individuals or to make a contribution to others.
Now, if one were dedicating a large amount of their time and energy in order to get ahead of others (or not fall behind), it becomes a way of being. Our consistent thoughts, words and actions form a reflection of our being. This way of being directly results in the sense of anxiety that pervades our culture. In local terms, we call it “Kiasu”. (fear of losing)
Some of these students may also encounter a paradox later in their lives. For example, when they get to a leadership position where they are supposed to serve people, they may not be able to do so genuinely as they have been driven their whole lives to get ahead of others. We are already seeing concerns about the current leadership in this regard, aren’t we?
3) Distorted view of reality
Lastly, elitism is detrimental because it distorts our view of reality. Our immediate social environment has a profound influence on how we perceive reality.
Due to academic streaming, many Singaporeans spend their youth in narrow social circles. They are likely to only make friends with those of similar academic ability, socioeconomic status and family background. This is a problem as it is means that we are limited in exposure to those who are very different from us.
If I were to look at my own circle of friends up till the point I graduated, almost all of them are university graduates. This only changed after I made a conscious decision to get out of the box. Living abroad and working in various jobs (namely those that society does not expect a university graduate to do) allowed me to interact with people of other backgrounds.
It is also my observation that many high-performers tend to be out of touch with where they stand in the bigger picture. For instance, they may be doing things that are very impressive already but not think that of themselves. A certain someone I know who is objectively very capable called himself a “scrub” (a slang to imply someone is a failure or loser) when he compared himself to those around him. That feels kind of insulting to the rest of the population though.
The truth is that society is very diverse. Our spot in the world is much more than it seems. To be a human being but shielded from this truth is a great pity.
Remedy
What can we do to remedy this issue?
It is promising to see that the Ministry of Education has been making effort in the past few years to make changes to the education system. For example, the introduction of subject-based banding where students with different abilities in different subjects are placed into 1 class.
While that is indeed a better alternative to streaming students based on overall results, it is not enough. As long as the interests for moulding education remain the same, tweaks here and there do not really get to the core of the issue.
For far too long, we have looked at it as a matter of the government’s responsibility while leaving out the role of citizens (mostly adults especially parents, to a certain extent students as well) who buy into this. My intuition tells me that it would be better to take things into our own hands. To remedy elitism, we need to live our lives in a more deliberate way than what the system has designed for us.
I will leave it at here for you to think about those in relation to the harms that I mentioned.
Conclusion
To conclude, I have analysed the issue of elitism in our education system and the harms that it causes to society. Elitism might be a shadow that we do not want to look at but is necessary to integrate. I know in my heart that this is not the direction that we want to move towards as a country.
